I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

Ironing your Needlework Projects – Linen Pouch Progress

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Sometimes, it’s not necessary to iron an embroidery project, but sometimes, you just can’t avoid it! When working white-on-white with linen, using a hoop, it’s likely you’re going to have to wash your work, which means you’re probably going to have to iron it, too! And, if it’s something that needs to be sewn up for finishing, chances are, you’re going to have to iron it several times.

That’s certainly all the case with the linen pouch I’m making. Not only did I have to wash it (quite a bit!) after finishing the embroidery, but I had to iron it several times during the sewing and turning process.

So the question is, how do you iron a piece of needlework that has embroidery on it, especially when the stitches are somewhat dimensional. Remember, I used the Palestrina stitch on this pouch? The beauty of the stitch is in its raised knots – to crush those with ironing would be a shame.

First thing I do is lay out two flannel pads, both made of 4 pieces of soft flannel, which I cover with either a clean sheet or pillow case, or (saved Just for Ironing), a flour sack towel. Good flour sack towels are perfect for this – in fact, if you have a small embroidery piece, you could just fold up a clean flour sack into about four or so folds and use it.

I place the flannel pads on my ironing board and cover them with the flour sack towel.

And then I put my needlework piece face down on the flour sack towel. Iron on the wrong side – the back of the needlework.

I iron using the setting for the fabric, but taking into consideration the thread used for embroidery. For example, here I used cotton thread, so all’s well – cotton and linen work well together. But a fine silk probably wouldn’t take the heat as well – had I worked this in silk, I would have been a little more cautious.

Iron over the back of the work – including over your embroidery – until you’ve removed the wrinkles. I usually don’t use steam at this point, unless the linen is really wrinkled!

That’s the impression mirrored in the background. The embroidery withstood the ironing really well – nary a knot crushed.

That’s the embroidery for the pouch, all ironed up and ready to sew. Next, I’m going to show you how I made the cord and tassle, and talk a bit about buttons. Yes, buttons.

Hope you’re weekend was a pleasant one! For me, I’ve got a couple little touches left on the pouch today, then I need to clean up the studio – which is a Royal Mess – and then I plan to revisit an unfinished project that has some COLOR in it, or at least get it out and ready for stitching when I can snatch time after work hours this week. Ahhh… COLOR – I can’t wait!

The reason I don’t like to use terry cloth towels – like thick bath towels, etc – is that, when ironing linen, they tend to dimple the fabric. I prefer a smoother surface, so I use a cotton towel over flannel. It’s always worked for me! You can also fold a sheet a few times and use it, too…

Hi-Mary, If you use a loop terry towel it may dimple. Try using a cut pile plush towel or a needleboard. The pile will stay upright, filling in spaces as allowed. Also, do you know that you can purchase a v-e-r-y tiny iron? Nancy’s Notions sells a cute tiny iron attached to a wand. It is a GREAT tool to have and not expensive at all.

I am working on a obi out of yellow satin and a mixure of normal floss and satin floss. The yellow was thin so I had to back it with a white fabric. I had to take the hoop off some time ago and I noticed that it all scrunched and and wrinkled. Was wondering how to fix that, would just ironing work?. I am currently in a section that will be hidden in the folds of the obi. Would like a to figure out how to fix it before i go much further.

Well, I’m not sure you can fix it, but you can try blocking it when you’re finished, using this technique: https://www.needlenthread.com/2012/07/damp-stretching-blocking-embroidery.html – that’s assuming it hasn’t been made up into the obi yet. There are different things that can cause puckering. One is stitch tension – if you’re pulling your stitches too tightly. Sometimes, the problem with puckering is how you’ve mounted your fabric in the hoop, and whether or not you’ve pulled it so that it is warped in the hoop (pulled more in one direction than the other). If you make sure your hoop is mounted so that the hardware is either at noon, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock, or 9 o’clock, that can help keep the fabric on the straight of the grain. Then, if you need to tighten your fabric, pull at those places, and look at the weave and make sure it isn’t warping towards a given direction.